Rainbow soared over Equestria. "Just a quick question and we'll be done." She grinned as she banked over the rolling plains beneath her, empty of pony life. A lone oak tree sat at the edge of the horizon, far from any buildings.

Far ahead, she started to see the hints of Our Town, where she knew her target lived. It was a small place, its roads empty. Sugar Belle's home stood quiet, flowers growing around it. Rainbow felt a bit of guilt building in her stomach. What if Sugar Belle got super mad at what she was about to ask? Rainbow pushed those worries aside and landed lightly. "Let's just ask and get this over with."

Before she could knock, Sugar Belle opened the door. "Oh, Rainbow Dash! I was just heading out!" She smiled at Rainbow, brushing herself off as she stepped out.

"Sugar Belle! Just the mare I was hoping to see." She slid in aside Sugar Belle. "Where ya headed?"

Sugar Belle lifted her basket. "To help an old friend move some furniture! She wanted some hooves and I'm not too busy today." She nodded back to the house. "Feel free to stop by later, though."

"Oh, uh, I don't mind helping." She walked along with Sugar through their small town. "We can talk afterwards."

"Hmm? Talk?" Sugar Belle smiled. "What about?"

"Yeah, see..." Rainbow felt her words slowing in her mouth. "Y'know that whole family thing ponies do?"

Sugar Belle looked confused a moment, but it cleared. "Did you find a special somepony?! Congratulations!"

Rainbow raised her hooves defensively. "No! Well, yes, technically, but um, it's not about that, but it kinda is." She kicked at the ground with a huff. "Sorry, it's complicated. Did you want to help your friend? It can wait until we're all done with that."

"Ooh, it sounds important." Sugar Belle frowned, glancing up as they walked. "You know what? I don't need to help today. Let's talk!" She took Rainbow back to her house and put on a kettle. "For a friend in trouble, I can take the time."

"It's, uh, not really for me." Rainbow rubbed her cheek and muttered. "It's not really my problem, except it kinda is."

"Are you in trouble? Or, the other mare?" Belle sat down across from Rainbow at a small table, watching her with obvious concern.

Rainbow flashed a nervous smile. "The other mare is in trouble, which makes me in trouble. Okay, enough dancing around the point. That isn't my style. I'm just going to say it."

Belle sat up a bit straighter, leaning forward. "Okay. Say it. I'll listen." She reached out and held Rainbow's hooves reassuringly.

Rainbow tensed as Belle's hooves touched hers, but she took a breath and steadied herself. "Applejack wants a foal. I want to give Applejack that foal. Big Mac could give us that foal, um, not directly, but with me." She pointed to herself with the hoof not being held. "I am a mare and all." As if that needed reminding. "Um, but—"

Sugar Belle went from supportive to a state of confused shock. "Rainbow, did you forget we're married? You were at the ceremony. I don't think either of us forgot. We have photos." She leaned in, as if studying Rainbow's face for signs of illness or malady. "Are you feeling alright?"

Rainbow cleared her throat and blushed. "This wouldn't be cheating! That's why I'm here. I don't want Big Mac for love or sappy stuff. I just want to get that foal, then get out of your way. Simple as that." She laughed a genuinely as she could, which didn't come out nearly as authentic as she was aiming for.

Belle tilted her head back and gave Rainbow an odd look. "Well... this is a little out there. I mean, if you all were to..." She raised a brow at Rainbow. "Would you? For the good of Applejack?"

"Absolutely!" Rainbow found herself standing, placing her hooves on the tabletop with determination. "I would take a bullet for her. I can take, um, that, for her too." She colored at the thought of what was needed to make a foal happen. "If it made her smile, I'd do it and not even feel bad."

Belle nodded with Rainbow's exuberance. "That must be very important. Still..." She smiled at Rainbow softly. "I wouldn't like the idea of my husband putting his stallion bits in another mare, especially one as good a friend as you are."

Rainbow put her hooves on Belle's shoulders. "That's why I'm here. If you say yes, then it's not cheating. It's just an agreed on thing between ponies. No lying, no hiding things. This isn't about being all sneaky or something like that. Sugar Belle, may I borrow your husband?" That felt odd even in her own head. "I'll give him back, good as new, I promise!"

Sugar Belle looked thoughtful at Rainbow's pleas. She was quiet for a time, obviously thinking.

Rainbow started to speak again, but the kettle began to whistle. Belle got up to pull it off the fire, then put a tea bag in two cups and poured some hot water over them.

"Would you like sugar? Honey?" Belle set the steaming mug before Rainbow. "And milk?"

"Oh, yeah, sure." Rainbow shook her head, she wasn't here to be waited on. "Sugar, I don't want to hurt you. You're a friend! A friend I'd like to keep. If you say no, this is over. I'll never bother you about it again. This is a question, not a, you know, demand."

Belle smiled softly at Rainbow's nervous rambling. "Drink your tea, sweetie." She touched noses with Rainbow Dash as she offered her some sugar. "Don't worry, and give me a moment to think over some hot tea."

Rainbow slumped at the table, sipping her tea quietly as Sugar Belle sat across from her.

"Why do you want a foal?" Belle glanced at Rainbow. "Is it for you, or Applejack?"

Rainbow pointed. "For Applejack. I mean, once the foal's there, they're obviously my foal too. I'd do my part!" She suddenly sank onto her chair. "Wow."

"Wow?" Belle inclined her head. "Think of something?"

"It just hit me that I'd be a mom." She colored faintly. "I hadn't really thought about that, just how much Applejack wanted to be one. I'd be one too. Crazy."

Belle laughed gently. "You'd be a great mother. I've seen you care for others."

"Me? Maybe." Rainbow tossed a hoof as she finished her tea. "So, what do you say?"

Belle took a slow breath as she sat up straight. "This is a big ask." She put her hooves to her chest. "You want my husband to father a foal, but then to step back and not be involved. I'm—" She looked away. "As much as I don't want him being with another mare, the thought of him creating life, just to ignore it, that doesn't sit right."

"It's not ignoring it! It's being discreet!" Rainbow pointed a hoof. "We won't flaunt it in front of you. And Applejack wouldn't want to either. You two can stay besties!"

Belle put a hoof on Rainbow's shivering arm. "That wasn't me kicking you out, Rainbow. That was me saying that I can't do that. I can't allow my husband to create a literal bastard foal. They don't deserve that. He doesn't either. He would know, every time hey saw your foal, and wasn't allowed to say anything. If you want this to be an honest thing, we can't lie there."

Rainbow folded her forelegs and grumbled. "So what? I'm not supposed to make Applejack happy?"

"I didn't say that." Belle got up and looked around the room. "I'm saying if he fathers a foal, he can't run away. The foal should know who the father is, and he should be available for that foal." She put a hoof at her chest. "And I'd be their aunt." She flashed a nervous smile. "I'd be their aunt either way."

"Wait..." Rainbow narrowed her eyes at Belle. "Are you saying yes?"

Belle nodded, with some resignation. "I... I suppose so."

Rainbow felt only blinding joy in that moment. "Yes!" She pumped a hoof and only at that moment realized she was maybe celebrating a bit too loudly. She clamped her mouth shut and coughed into a hoof. "Cool! We cool."

"We are cool." Belle nodded slowly. "But not just because I said it was okay." She let out her breath in a sigh. "Thank you, for talking to me. If you had snuck this behind my back, I don't think I could have ever forgiven you." She gave Rainbow a prod. "Big Mac is mine. I'm lending him to you, if he agrees, and just for one specific thing. He's mine."

Rainbow held up her hooves. "I would never, ever take him from you! We'd never want that! We're friends. This isn't about hurting you."

Belle smiled at Rainbow's apparent sincerity. "You always were a loyal pony." She drew Rainbow in for a firm hug. "Now, I can see you vibrating. You want to go. I won't hold you here."

Rainbow immediately flashed over to the door. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" She almost was out the door before she spun around and pointed at Belle. "Oh! One last thing. You're right, this would be cheating, technically. If we didn't ask. Totes cheating. Glad we didn't do that." She laughed awkwardly, zipping away before she could say anymore stupid things.

Belle waved at Rainbow, then put a hoof on her chin as she watched Rainbow fly off. "Did... did she forget to ask Big Mac if he was okay with this?"

Rainbow was long out of earshot at that point, racing back towards Ponyville with whoops and cheers.

Big Mac looked up in surprise as Rainbow dashed past him.

Rainbow went skidding on her rear, clawing at the dirt to slow herself down. She almost ran right over a barn door before turning back towards Big Mac. "Have I got news for you!" She hopped back to her hooves and came trotting towards Big Mac with a smile that was a little too big.

"Ayup," Big Mac said dryly, his expression flat. "News is good."

"So, look." Rainbow sat down and wiped her brow. "More easy talking my way out of trouble than I thought, but yeah. She said yes."

"Ayup?" Big Mac went still a moment, processing that. "She did?!"

"Yep! I talked to her, we had some tea, and we're in business!" Rainbow held out her hoof. "Yer sister's gonna have a foal!"

Big Mac stared at the hoof, then looked up at Rainbow. "You really can convince ponies to do anything."

"Well, Applejack would say 'guh,' but yeah, I'm pretty good." She put a wing over Big Mac. "No prob. And she won't be mad or hurt. So, what now?"

Big Mac sat down on his haunches with a sigh. "So, yer serious then?" He reached with a quivering hoof to Rainbow's side. "Ya want me to put a foal in there?"

"Oh, she did have a condition." Rainbow Coiled to face him directly. "Any foal you make is yours, no hiding that. Me and Applejack will both be moms, but you'll still be a dad. The kiddo won't be wondering who their pops is. Sugar will be their aunt. That's what she said."

Big Mac blushed bright red, his face tightening. "So... I gotta father a foal. Which I didn't even know ya wanted." He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "Ya sure?"

Rainbow waved a wing dismissively. "Big Mac, you're practically a brother. I mean, technically, once AJ and me get married, you really will be one. So you're involved with my foal? Why would I be mad! Sounds good. A bro should be involved with any kid I have."

Big Mac fell back into the grass with a soft thump. "Ah'm gonna be a dad." He put his hooves over his face. "The Princesses protect me."

"Right, now!" Rainbow rubbed her hooves together. "Let's get on with this. Go ahead, put a foal in there."

Big Mac blinked with fresh confusion. "Um. Rainbow, do you think a stallion just, what, imagines a foal inside a mare?"

Rainbow raised a brow at him. "No! You have to do... you know. So let's get started."

Big Mac laughed at the notion. "Rainbow. We ain't gonna do that out here. That ain't proper."

"Oh c'mon!" Rainbow prodded at Big Mac. "This is private! No ponies here." She grinned at Big Mac. "Just go ahead and start with—"

Big Mac brought a hoof over Rainbow's mouth. "C'mon." He half dragged her towards the house. "At least let's do this right."

Author's Note

Sugar Belle is a good pony. She won't be part of anything that makes a poor confused foal.

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